Steve Pardue, Ph.D. 2012

Recipient of the Wilbert and Colene Norton Fellowship

My dissertation, now published by Bloomsbury, was entitled “The Mind Of Christ: Humility As An Intellectual Virtue In Christian Theology” (supervised by Dr. Daniel J. Treier). The project explored the concept of humility and its intellectual counterpart in historic and contemporary contexts. Although humility has been a cornerstone of Christian ethics and theology since the time of the New Testament, since the 18th century it has often been viewed as a vice that disempowers and unduly constrains its practitioners. Focusing particularly on Gregory of Nyssa and Augustine, I argued that Christian resources offer a rich, empowering vision of humility that is less susceptible to these critiques than most modern conceptions of the virtue.

I’m deeply grateful for the opportunities that Wheaton’s PhD program offered. Students and professors pushed me toward genuine and thoughtful interdisciplinary dialogue, providing remarkable opportunities to grow increasingly into a well-rounded teacher and writer. Additionally, interactions with faculty in the program were frequent and as collaborative as I could wish for; in particular, my mentor was extremely competent and timely in his guidance, in addition to being genuinely concerned for my well-being. Finally, since I knew I wanted to teach internationally after finishing, I deeply appreciated the connections Wheaton offered to faculty and institutions around the world, which led to fantastic opportunities after graduating.

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